A high amount of sodium intake is considered to be detrimental to health and therefore there is the desire to reduce the amount of sodium chloride (NaCl) in food products, without reducing the desired salty taste at the same time. The salty taste is very important to the perceived flavour intensity and profile, especially for savory food products.
There exists a need in the food industry to provide ingredients that enhance the salty taste of food products so that NaCl can be reduced. Further, there is a need to provide ingredients that enhance the umami taste of food products, especially savoury food products.
Potassium Chloride (KCl) is used to replace other salts, particularly NaCl. If KCl is used at the desired concentrations to reduce the NaCl concentration, an undesirable bitter and metallic taste is perceived by the consumer. It would therefore be of interest to find a product that is able to enhance the salty taste of NaCl so KCl can be partly or completely replaced.
Surprisingly, it has now been found that by the process based on fermentation of hydrolyzed pea protein described herein below, an ingredient can be formed that has an enhancing effect on the perception of salty taste in food products.
Fermented products based on protein rich botanical materials which are hydrolyzed are known to have an umami taste. In particular, protein from soy and wheat gluten is used to form ingredients having an umami taste. To form such ingredients, materials with a high content of glutamic acid are chosen, which is a very important factor for umami taste. Wheat gluten has a glutamic acid content of 34%, soy protein has a glutamic acid content of 20%. To reach a similar effect, one would choose a material of similar or higher glutamic acid content. None of these ingredients is known to have a salt enhancing effect.